Can’t You Just Drive It?

The simple answer is no… The daily driver, which I swore I would leave alone, continues to receive little upgrades here and there. The most recent round of upgrades has come all the way from Japan and the Philippines.

The first item is none other than a genuine Suzuki Sport Shift knob in White Duracon Plastic. After waiting weeks for this item to be stocked in Japan, packaged and shipped to PA, it arrived. I was thrilled to see the knob show up at my door, but utterly disappointed to realize that the knob isn’t threaded and relies on a setscrew for mounting. Having installed many set-screw-style shift knobs in the past, I knew I was destined for disappointment with this knob. Not surprisingly the knob was installed and came loose by the third shift. Good thing I: a) Paid a premium for genuine part b) Paid a premium to have it shipped half way around the world c) Waited for weeks on end for it to arrive…The lesson learned here is to go with what you know! I knew from day one that I should have ordered the cheaper greddy knob, I knew the thread size and pattern for Suzuki, and finally I knew I would get burned! An update w/ replacement knob to follow !!

The state of affairs

Over the past week or so the sx4 has received a number of oem upgrades. The first of which is a Suzuki Works Techno carbon dash kit. These pieces were of excellent quality and fit perfect! Additionally I installed oem carbon dash sills for that extra touch when you open the doors. (Excuse the artsy night pic...)

More sx4 parts to come!

Got a new grill for the hatchback :P Undersized cooling system no more! I have decided to use the moroso can as a coolant reservoir rather than a oil catch can. The hunt for the oil catch can continues.

And finally some pics of the mess that is workshop. Drastic changes are pending. Before long all these parts will either be sold or installed, only to be replaced by new parts of a different flavor.

Farewell Whitey

So today is the day, whitey is sold. Since Winter 2007 it has been an excellent daily driver. Never leaving me stranded once, it was super reliable and provided a great introduction into the sport of autox. It was parted out (and still is being parted out). With a 190k on the clock, it still runs very well and it should serve its new owner very well. Rumor has it that something german this way comes, shhh....

It's Alive!!

It’s alive! After being out of commission for many weeks the hatchback runs again. With the driverside wire tuck out of the way, I installed some new gaskets to alleviate some of the fluid leaks. I tightened some of the loose couplers, filled the oil, connected the battery and held m breath. Sure enough Mr. Ed didn’t disappoint and fired right up! I proceeded to drive it on the street for the remainder of the weekend and flogged it every opportunity. Overall the car runs well, however there are a couple flat spots where the ignition timing needs to be addressed. They will be addressed further when the car is tuned.

Also this weekend I stripped the interior to more of a race spec. Who needs carpet & consoles anyway? I would like to eventually remove the rest of the sound deadening tar from the floorboards, all in due time. For now the focus is getting the car to run safely, and prepping it for an incident free upcoming rallyx!

I also did something very uncharacteristic for me.... WASHED THE CARS :P

A True Barn Find

My future brother-in-law called this weekend to tell me about a car that I might be interested in. He said the car has been in a barn for the past 15 years and wasn’t sure of the condition. Sure enough I drove over to take a look. To my surprise the car was a Monterey Blue 1967 Karmann Ghia Hardtop! Judging by the reg. & inspection stickers the car hasn’t been driven on the street since 1975!

Overall the body is rough, as most VW’s of this vintage are. The rust is present at the typical spots for these cars (Lower rocker panels, headlight bezels, front nose). It appears to have been repaired on one side. Otherwise the car is in great shape all things considered. The bumpers are dirty chrome but should clean up nicely. The interior is complete and in great shape. The engine bay looks to be in good condition also, no major rust or oil stains.

We are still ironing out the details and price, but this could be a once in a lifetime chance!

Further from stock

750 Miles on the ODO; Comments to follow...

3rd AutoX (Whitey’s Last Dance)

Well last Sunday was the third event of the 2008 Otto’s Autox series, held at the Boeing Helicopter Plant in Ridley Park. I have to say of all the events so far this season I had the most fun at this one. I’m not sure if it was the combination of the convenient location, small course, or beater nostalgia but I had a great time. The forecast was rain 9AM to 12PM, so I made the last minute decision to keep the Kuhmo ASX’s on. As it turns out the rain held off (at least for my heat :P ). Here were my times for the day:
Run 1: 64.07s + OFF COURSE
Run 2: 37.485s
Run 3: 36.371s
Run 4: 36.725s
Run 5: 36.080s

Of those times the last run was good enough for 9th place out of 10 novices. You might be wondering why the first run was nearly double. Being that this was a small course there were two sections where the course crossed over itself forcing the driver to repeat small areas. To the shock of the course workers & announcer, I decided to repeat the last section a second time. Naturally this didn’t help my time. It was a colossal mistake and I am very lucky that the next car hadn’t yet left the starting gate. Laughing it off, I went on to continue to shave the time off. It was an exciting event where the limits of the car became quite obvious. I was battling the cars body roll and struggling to maintain traction all morning. I pushed it hard and the car was very sloppy. Run 4 I tried to keep the sliding to a minimum and take it smoother and slower. This was a fruitless effort as I nearly spun out at the first skid pad section. Here are some action pics:




Overall the event was well run and I had a blast! Here are some other pictures of others in my run group. (Including Chase Ellis’s Mini Cooper S-GP :thumbup: )

In closing it is a sad day that whitey will now be parted and no longer raced. I will miss it’s slow motor, predictable over steer, and the fearless driving. Big thanks to Tom G & Dave Wei for the pictures of whiteys last dance…

Hatchback Reconstruction

Today i found some time to devote to the hatchback. I began by removing the turbo kit and then did the following:

• New Oil Pan Gasket
• New Valve Cover Gasket / Repainted Valve cover
• Degreased and cleaned the hard to reach areas of the block
• Continued stainless steel fastener install
  
• Some photos of said work: